Gerald Ford Testified in Public About the Pardon ... Bush Should Testify in Public About 9-11

History usually provides a roadmap for the present. Unfortunately, leaders
fail to consult the map. That's certainly been the case as the 9/11 Commission
has prepared to hear behind-closed-doors testimony from Vice President Dick
Cheney and President George Bush at the same time.

Members of the commission and, for the most part, members of congress, have
accepted the secret-testimony arrangement. But why?

Presidents have testified before investigatory committees before. And they
have done so on comparable issues. Former US Rep. Elizabeth Holtzman reminds
us that in 1974, amid the national firestorm that followed President Gerald
Ford's pardon of former President Richard Nixon, Ford voluntarily appeared before
a House subcommittee that was reviewing the pardon.

"The President came before the subcommittee, made an opening statement
and was questioned by the House members. Although each of us had only five minutes,
I was able to ask the President directly whether there had been a deal with
Nixon about the pardon. The public could determine by Ford's demeanor and his
words whether to believe his emphatic denial of any deal," recalls Holtzman,
who as a young member of the House was a key player in the Judiciary Committee's
investigation of the Watergate scandal.

"The fact that important questions could be posed directly to the President
and the fact that the President was willing to face down his severest critics
in public were healthy things for our country. And, not even the staunchest
Republicans complained that the presidency was being demeaned."

By recalling the history, Holtzman reminds us that President Bush could, and
should, simply appear before the 9/11 Commission. There is no Constitutional
crisis here. There is no dangerous precedent that could be established. And
there is no question of proportionality--certainly, the intensity of the demands
for an explanation of the Nixon pardon can appropriately compared with those
for an explanation of how the current administration responded to terrorist
threats before and after the September 11, 2001 attacks. "As with the Nixon
pardon, the events of 9/11 have caused huge national concern," explains
Holtzman. "The victims' families--as well as millions of others--have asked
why it happened and what if anything could have been done to avert the tragedy.
These are simple, reasonable questions."